People who would never tolerate a colony of rats living in their attic will turn a blind eye towards pigeons entrenched in the rafters of their roof. Yet, in terms of disease and damage, the two pests are quite similar. In order to better understand how nuisance birds (or rats for that matter) spread diseas, we need to understand the basics of disease and transmission.

When normal body functions become disrupted due to a foreign invader or an internal malfunction, we call the disruption a disease. Diseases caused by foreign invaders are called infectious diseases.

The invading agents that account for the majority of infectious diseases are grouped in the following five categories: viruses, bacteria, mycotic (fungal), protozoal and rickettsial. From a layman’s standpoint, the classification and definitions of disease are less important than how these diseases spread and how we can protect ourselves from them.

Diseases need to be transported from place to place in order to spread. Birds are a perfect mechanism for spreading disease because they travel great distances, harbour over forty types of parasites and can host internally over sixty types of infectious diseases.

Fortunately, human interaction with most bird species is minimal, thus drastically reducing any health threat from most birds. However a few bird species have successfully adapted to our urban environment. The pigeon, starling and house sparrow have learned to thrive living in our buildings and eating our food.

Their adaptation to our communities has brought them into close proximity to humans. These three non-native birds have become a major nuisance in our cities and they pose a serious health risk.
How Pest Birds Harbour and Spread Disease

The five types of infectious agents listed above can be associated with birds in the following ways: the disease lives in the bird and is passed on when the bird defecates; the disease lives in the birds surrounding environment and is spread by the birds lifestyle; the disease lives inside a parasite that the bird harbours. From understanding how the bird harbours diseases we can demonstrate the four ways the diseases are passed during bird control to humans.

The most obvious example is when the diseased bird directly defecates into a human food or water source. In the summer of 93, New York faced a health crisis when several hundred people came down with a mysterious ailment. The illness was traced to sea gull droppings in an old city reservoir.

pest control inspectors are quick to shut down a food processing plant if nuisance birds are found inside. Besides direct contamination, airborne spores from drying feces in air ducts and vents can settle on exposed food and transfer disease. Several thousand cases of food poisoning (Salmonella) every year are attributed to this disease transmission route.
Inhalation of fecal dust

As bird feces and/or the contaminated soil it rests on, dries or is disturbed, microscopic pieces break off and become airborne. These airborne particles can contain dormant fungi and/or bacteria.

When breathed into the lungs, the warm, moist environment of the lung lining provides a breeding ground for the infectious agents. Common symptoms of this type of infection are flu like in nature: coughing, elevated temperature, restricted breathing and general body fatigue, and last roughly two to four days.

The vast majority of the time, the bodies defences will contain the invaders even before minor symptoms appear but in a small percentage of cases, major infection causing long term disability and even death occurs. It is worth noting that there is no known medical cure for internal fungal infections.

After the Northridge earthquake, several thousand people came down with flu like respiratory symptoms. The ailment was called Valley Fever and was caused by people breathing in dust and airborne debris filled with histoplasmosis spores and related fungal agents stirred up by the earthquake.

Infection occurs when a worker or resident gets fecal dust or droppings in an open wound or cut. This commonly occurs when handling old rusty, sharp porcupine wire ledge products which are covered with bird feces.

The wound site becomes red, puffy and puss-filled. Antibiotics are often needed to cure the infection. In some rare cases, infection of the blood (Septis) or internal infection can also occur causing serious illness or death.

Proper attire and care must always be used when cleaning a bird site or installing bird control products. If a cut or injury occurs, thoroughly wash and disinfect the wound and cover with a sterile bandage to minimize risk of infection.

Pest birds harbour ticks, fleas, mites and other ectoparasites. Parasites transfer disease in the following manner. The parasite bites an infected animal and sucks in blood containing the germ. When the bug bites its next victim it passes along the germ to the new victim. This occurs because parasites inject some of their saliva into the host when feeding. Over forty types of parasites live either on the birds, in their nests or in the places they roost.

They are responsible for the transmission of several hundred viral and bacterial agents. These diseases include plague, encephalitis, pox and meningitis. Control of these parasites is a crucial phase of the bird control project. Paradoxically, this threat can be aggravated when bird control products are installed.

Unless the parasites are exterminated when the birds are excluded from a site, the mites, fleas, ticks etc. will seek a new host, often the human inhabitants. Therefore, a proper bird control project will always include parasite extermination.

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Pigeon spikes, Seagull Spikes, bird netting, bird scarers, decoy birds, which one do we chose and will it work.

The best answer for everything would be to net the area with the problem. This provides a physical barrier and will stop the birds annoying you, however this isnt always practical, sometimes it might just be a ledge you need protected, or a tree you want to get them out of. Bird controlcan be a difficult task, so asks the experts. Bird stop will give free advice and suggest something that will actually work.

Bird spikes are pretty effective, wheter it be Seagull spikes or Pigeon Spikes. Remember Pigeon spikes wont deter seagulls, but seagull spikes will deter pigeons. Why? Seagulls have longer legs and can walk over pigeon spikes.

Decoy owls although look cute in the garden, will only work if you move them regularly, as the pest birds will get used to them, realise they are no threat and may even sit on top of them!

Bird Scarers can be good, but will not work on Seagulls if they have been nesting, so again, ask for advice on this before you splash out on one.

Post & wire can be good for discreet bird control solutions. A thin strip of wire run between 2 posts at 1.5m intervals, held with springs and crimps. The important thing here is to ensure that you have the ledge fully protected. Pigeons will slip in behind anything bigger than 65mm and seagulls 100mm so measure carefully.

Bird Repellent gel, is good for garden fences etc, but will wash away over time, so it will need replacing annually.

If you have a geese problem, goose chase is a fantastic product. spray it over the grass, it is made from a grape that geese don’t like the taste of and they will move on to nicer tasting pastures. Other products are available for geese, the goose buster is a popular bio acoustic system, but costs slightly more, so it depends on what budget you have. Bird control isn’t always high on the priory list when it comes to budgets.

So wheter you want bird spikes, netting, repellents, scarers, post & wire, decoys, contact the professionals, for cost effective bird control, Bird Stop, the online bird proofing specialists. www.bird-stop.co.uk pigeon proofing

If all the of the above is too much for you, Bird Stop also offer an installation service. Surveys are free of charge and there is no obligation to accept the quote. But if you do you will receive a solution designed specifically to suit your property and the bird problem you are experiencing, so it is sure to work. Check out www.bird-stop.co.uk for contact details

Remember if you had Seagulls nesting on your property earlier this year, they will return. By March next year you will have last years seagulls and last years babies all trying to nest on your property again. That means more early starts and more agressive seagulls, so stop them nesting now by calling Bird Stop bird control

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